Vol. 2, Issue 2, Part A (2025)

Seasonal infectious diseases impose a substantial burden on public health, especially within low-resource settings where household hygiene practices are often inadequate. This research evaluates the effectiveness of a hygiene-education intervention delivered by community health nurses to households, aiming to reduce the incidence of seasonal infectious diseases such as acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases. A quasi-experimental design was employed: 600 households from two demographically similar semi-urban communities were enrolled, with 300 households receiving structured hygiene education (intervention group) and 300 serving as control (no intervention). The intervention comprised monthly home visits for three months, where nurses provided instruction on hand-washing with soap, safe water storage, sanitation, and environmental hygiene practices. Incidence of infectious disease episodes was tracked over a subsequent six-month seasonal period via weekly household health diaries and monthly nurse follow-ups. Results show a 38% reduction in reported acute respiratory infections and a 45% reduction in diarrhoeal disease episodes in the intervention group compared with control (p<0.01). Additionally, knowledge and reported hygiene behavior scores improved significantly among the intervention group. These findings suggest that hygiene education, when delivered consistently at the household level by community health nurses, can significantly reduce seasonal infectious disease burden. The research underscores the role of community-based health education in public health, particularly in resource-limited settings.